Fighting corruption in the public sector

Lobbying

Lobbying

Lobbyists can influence government decisions and are part of the policy-making process in modern democracies. Lobbying can provide governments with valuable insights and data but it can also lead to unfair advantages for vested interests if the process is not transparent and carried out with integrity. Citizens interests are put at risk when negotiations are carried out behind closed doors.

It has been argued that the current economic crisis was partly caused by the influence of specific interests on government decision-making. An International Monetary Fund report (2009) links intensive lobbying by the financial, insurance and real estate industries in the United States with high-risk lending practices. The report concludes that “the prevention of future crises might require weakening political influence of the financial industry or closer monitoring of lobbying activities to understand the incentives behind better.”

Increase in lobbying

There is an increase in the number of lobbyists and in the amount of money spent on lobbying. There are close to 5,000 registered lobbyists at the European Commission and Parliament and there are an estimated 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels. In the United States lobbying spending more than doubled between 1998 and 2012, increasing from USD 1.4 billion to USD 3.3 billion.

In view of the downside risks of lobbying and the impressive mobilisation of private resources, public pressure is rising worldwide to put lobbying regulations on the political agenda. Transparency, integrity and fairness in the decision-making process are crucial to safeguard the public interest and promote a level playing field for businesses. The experiences reviewed by the OECD show that regulating lobbying has proven difficult for decision makers due to its complexity and sensitive nature with many OECD countries rely on self-regulation of lobbyists. Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of surveyed lobbyists (OECD, 2009) support mandatory disclosure of information.

Based on the key provisions of the Recommendation, the OECD CleanGovBiz Toolkit on Lobbying offers practical guidance on how to implement the Principles in practice. Public officials and lobbyists share responsibility to apply the principles of good governance, in particular transparency and integrity, in order to maintain confidence in public decisions.

OECD Comparative analysis on Lobbying

Lobbyists, Government and Public Trust, Volume 3

This report takes stock of progress made in implementing the 2010 Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying.

The review process found that although there is an emerging consensus on the need for transparency to shed light on lobbying, new regulations are often scandal-driven instead of forward looking.

The report "Lobbyists, Government and Public Trust, Volume 1" reviews the experiences of Australia, Canada, Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States with government regulations designed to increase scrutiny for lobbying and lobbyists.

Current approaches, models, trends and state-of-the-art solutions are examined to support a deeper understanding of the potential and limitations of existing norms.‪ ‪

The report also presents building blocks for developing a framework for lobbying that meets public expectations for transparency, accountability and integrity.

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The report "Lobbyists, Government and Public Trust, Volume 2" examines regulation and self-regulation of lobbying.

The report includes chapters defining and examining lobbying, describing the role of professional lobbying associations, exploring various codes of conduct and examining specific codes in various countries, examining lobbyists' attitudes toward regulation and self-regulation, and exploring various options for enhancing transparency and accountability.

The report also includes the results of a unique survey of lobbyists' attitude in Europe that highlight howexisting measures function.